The Ceryneian Hind
by Skyclaw
Summary: A mini adventure. The summer after Titan's Curse. Thalia unexpectedly shows up in camp with news from the Hunters. Accusations fly and a fight maybe just around the corner. :
1. Chapter 1

It's amazing how an eternal girl club can ruin your day. If that makes sense. I was having one of those rare peaceful nights without any demigod dreams messing with my mind when someone sounded the conch horn. _Jeez._ I went outside and saw Katie Gardner talking to Chiron on Half-blood Hill, their weapons drawn. A girl was with them. She was dressed mostly in black and was panting, like she was being chased by something. A lot of somethings. A big scary group of somethings. A... well you get the idea.

_Thalia._

I started running up the hill. Several kids had already gathered around Chiron. I got a closer look at Thalia. She looked even worse close up. There were scratches on her arms, the silver circlet on her head was lopsided and her face was paler than an empusae's. She had notched an arrow on her bow. She was breathless and was trying to formulate a sentence between gasps. I haven't seen her in months since she became one of the Hunters of Artemis.

"Ran... all the way.. gods... Artemis... hind..."

"Take deep breaths," Chiron told her, "And tell us the whole thing."

At this point, Thalia's face was gaining some more color.

"I snuck out and ran all the way from the huntress's campsite a kilometer or so west from here to warn you that they are going to attack!" she said in one breath.

The demigods all started whispering. Someone in the back yelled, "Who?"

"The hunters of Artemis."

Stunned silence filled the hill.

Chiron cleared his throat, "War council meeting. Counselors please meet in the rec room. The rest of you, it's one o'clock in the morning. Back to bed."

There were a few unsettled whispers but they went back to their cabins anyway. Being the only son of Poseidon, I had to go but I've got a feeling Thalia's news was going to end in disaster.

The war council was sleepy. Dionysus was slumped in his chair snoring in his deep purple pajamas. Clarisse was trying to maintain a Ares-like snarl but it looked more like a bull with its face smashed in. Chiron passed out cups of coffee in an attempt to keep the war council looking alive and tough. No progress so far. I was about to pass out myself but Thalia started her story.

"The Hunters are going to strike tomorrow night. They don't want to take on the whole camp but they want just get in and get it quickly before dawn, but my lady has given permission to kill any campers who get in the way. I..."

"Wait, wait. Your posse's gonna attack us? You're the leader of the pack. Why are you telling us this? Spilling secrets? How do we know you aren't lying? This could be a war strategy. Preparing ourselves for battle that's gonna come the least we expect it to," Clarrise growled.

"Clarrise, I've got a feeling she's telling the truth," Annabeth said. "Let her finish. What is 'it', Thalia?"

Clarrise grunted but waved her hand to let Thalia continue.

"It's the Ceryneian Hind. Artemis's sacred animal. It's stolen and she thinks that a hero took it. You know, since the last time, Hercules shot it between its forelegs. She thinks that it's roaming around in the camp's forest. I tried to reason with her but when immortals get angry, it's hard to calm them down."

"Well that's stupid," I blurted out.

Oops. I wished that I could just sew up my big fat mouth.

Thalia's stormy blue eyes glowed with anger.

"I mean where was the last time Artemis knew where the deer was?"

"Hind," Thalia corrected.

"Yeah, that one."

"Hmm... hard to say. I saw it with her yesterday. Why?"

"Where were you camping?"

"Same place we are camping at right now. West of here."

"That means the thief can't be far away," Annabeth said. "If there was a thief. Percy, we aren't even sure how we are going to get ready for the Hunters' attack. Artemis could just wipe us out by turning to her divine form or ask Apollo to help."

The Apollo counselor looked ticked off. Poor guy.

"Not that he would ask his kids to help," Annabeth amended quickly.

"So, what are we gonna do?" Beckendorf asked. No one answered. Dionysus said something about that sounded like 'blinky' and 'have your soul'.

"The only thing we could do is to build a defense just in case. Maybe we could negotiate something with Artemis," Silena yawned.

The war council started talking about building a fort and other war things. Clarrise was finally glad to be in charge of something. My ADHD brain got bored and so I decided to study Chiron's pajamas which had a picture of horseshoes and big writing that said Gallop! It lasted an eternity. My brained tuned in for the last words of the meeting.

"So are we all in agreement that we should delay any quests before negotiating with Artemis and to set up a defense?" some guy said in a monotone voice. It was Lee Fletcher.

Everyone grunted. I'm not really sure if it was actually a snore but Lee took it as a yes.

"Good. Meeting adjourned." Then his head dropped like a ton of bricks onto the table and he also started snoring.


	2. I Meet a Titan in a Candy Shop

**Author's Note:**

**Sheesh.. I finally got the computer to cooperate with me. I'm not techy. Second chapter! Reviewers get hugs from Asia!**

That night, a certain immortal interrupted my dreams. Have I ever told you how annoying that is? I was dreaming about my mom's old candy shop. I was drifting lazily around the aisles and I saw a guy. He was wearing those old fashioned white Greek robes and had scars all over his body. This was a dream remember? I didn't think anything was real.

"Hey," I said to the guy.

He smiled and said, "Perseus Jackson."

"That's my name, alright."

"I have come to negotiate a proposition with you."

I checked my pockets for change to buy the blue taffy candy thing. "Can I borrow a few cents?"

"No, you dolt. My..."

"Please?"

"Insolence! I..."

"Just a few cents?"

Scar Guy rubbed his temple as though trying to have patience with me. I'm not that annoying am I?

"This isn't a regular dream, demigod. Shut up and I'll tell you my proposition. And before you ask, I won't lend you money."

Something about Scar guy creeped me out. "You're Aeolous."

"No."

"Chrysador?"

"Nope."

"Somnus?"

"That's a Roman God."

"Hypnos?"

"Greek version of Somnus."

"Leto?"

"Umm... let me think- no. Do I look like a female to you? No! Save your breath. I am Prometheus."

"That was going to be my next guess."

Prometheus clenched and unclenched his fists. I loved toying with this guy. He took a deep breath and started again, "Now about that proposition. Let me tell you a little secret." He leaned in close to my ear. "I took the Ceryneian Hind."

I looked at him blankly. My dream self was really slow. "What?"

Prometheus rolled his eyes. "The golden deer, you imbecile. Gods, you're not that bright aren't you?"

"Why?"

He dropped his face into his hands. When he looked at me again, his expression was pained. I almost felt sorry for that guy. "I've got to make an offering to Zeus. Not just by scraping meals into braziers like you silly demigods. I've got to make the perfect offering. You know that the Ceryneian Hind can outrun any arrow, but did you know that its hide can give the wearer speed? Not just physical speed, but the speed of the mind, speeds of the emotion, speed of everything. Zeus could be smarter than all the gods together.

"He would've killed the hind already but Artemis was like, "No! Men shall not kill beasts under my control." She needs to lighten up. I can't imagine how Apollo can stand her. So I am going to give Lightning Face the hind as a favor. He'll owe me a huge favor and I'm going to force him to swear on the River Styx. You know what I'm going to do with that favor?"

A ball of ice started to form in my stomach. I reached into my pocket but my dream-clothes didn't have Riptide. "What?"

"I'm going to ask him to let me achieve my full strength and whisper in the ears of men again. I'll bring mankind forward."

"Okaay," I said anger rising. "What do need us to do?"

Prometheus grinned. "The hunters of Artemis. Exterminate them. They're in my way. I'm not powerful enough to pull some stunts. I can give you an advantage though. I'll whisper in each of the camper's ears. I can show them exactly how to fight. I'm the Titan of forethought remember? I know what they're probably going to do before they do. And I'm right 99% of the time."

"No can do, Prometheus. The Hunters are our friends. We can't kill them. We can't just capture Artemis. She didn't like it the last time," I said.

Prometheus just shrugged like he expected me to say that. "The hunters are coming anyway. They are going to pulverize you. Unless you agree to work with me, you're on your own. My army and I are stationed deep in the forest behind your camp. I made sure I dragged the hind through your camp so its scent looks like it's coming from there." He dug into his pocket and tossed me a drachma. It's biggger that usual and in one side there was a fire emblem. "Give this to Iris and she'll let you IM me. Only once though. Have fun dying."

Prometheus snapped his finger and he dissappeared in a collumn of fire. The candy shop felt cold and creepy. I woke up in cold sweat. I checked my pocket and amazingly, the fire drachma was in my pocket.

"You saw the titan of foresight in a candy shop?" Grover asked trying to kill his smile. I told Annabeth and Grover about my dream in the middle of the day.

"Shuddup, goat boy. This is serious," Annabeth said. "So, all we've got to do is find Prometheus, get the hind without getting ourselves killed by Artemis. Cake. We have to go find Prometheus now. If we have to fight him before the hunters come. It's still the afternoon so I think we've got a few hours before they come. If we're late, I think the camp's defenses can hold them for a while."

"Should we tell Chiron?" I asked.

"And give the campers a false sense of security? No, I think it's better not telling anyone, an Percy?"

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you tell us in the morning? We'd have more time to look for Prometheus."

"I was afraid of this." I pointed and Grover who was still trying to swallow his fist. "Honestly, it's not that funny."

He took his fist out and was about to say something but another bout of hystetrical laughter ensued.

"Okay," I said trying to get his attention. "He gave me a special drachma." I pulled out the fire drachma Prometheus gave me. "He said that if I gave this to Iris, she would let me contact him. Only once, though. What's the plan wise girl?"

She studied the drachma. "We pledge alle giance to him."

**Author's note:**

**What do you think? Review. Review. Review. How do you pronnounce Prometheus? Review. Promise there will be a fight scene. Review.**


	3. Sparkles the Magical Dog

**Author's Note: Sorry about the long wait (if any of you are waiting). I had schoolwork and such.**

"You sure about this?" I asked Annabeth.

"When are you ever going to trust my plans? Athena always has a plan."

Grover, Annabeth and I were standing by the creek in the forest. She held the fire drachma in her palm. Annabeth's plan is as follows:

-Contact Prometheus.

-Pretend that we want to do his bidding. To kill the Hunters.

-He shows us his hideout.

-We challenge him.

-Take the hind.

-Show it to Artemis before she incenerates anyone.

I willed the creek to spray fine mist into the sky. The afternoon light made a rainbow explode.

"O Iris, goddess of rainbows. Show us Prometheus." Annabeth tossed the coin into the mist.

The rainbow exploded into fire and Prometheus stepped out of the mirage. We couldn't help but jump a foot in the air. Iris messages never do that! He was wearing golden armour and in his arms was the Ceryneian Hind. It had a muzzle over it's snout and celestial bronze chains on it's legs. It was whimpering and shaking so bad that Grover rushed forward and hit Prometheus with his pipes.

"This... is... animal... cruelty! Release the poor thing!" He punctuated every word with a strike. Ouch. The last jab was hard enough to dislocate my shoulder but Prometheus just smiled at Grover like he was a baby saying his first words.

"Satyrs. I never understood you tree-huggers." He swept his hand and Grover sailed back like he just got punched by Chuck Norris.

Annabeth ran to Grover's side leaving me to stand up alone against the Titan. Great.

"I'm glad you decideded to join up, Jackson. Or should I say, pretend to join up?" He chuckled.

I gave Annabeth a murderous look.

_Oops. He's the Titan of forethought. Why do we keep on forgetting that? Why didn't YOU think of that?_

I relayed this to her with my eyes.

I sighed. "Well, that doesn't matter. We came to challenge you Prometheus." I drew Riptide to prove it to him. Annabeth managed to rouse Grover and drew her dagger. Grover looked ready to play a tune on his pipes.

Prometheus snapped his fingers and I expected a really hideous monster to appear in the midst of blinding light, like they usually do.

I braced myself for the worst, maybe even a drakon. Sparkles appeared... and a dog appeared next to the titan. I heared Grover say, "Awww... cute doggie! I'm going to name you Sparkles!"

The dog turned to Grover and growled. Annabeth looked pale but she said bravely, "So, you're going to set a dog on us?"

"This is no ordinary dog, girl," Prometheus said. "This is Laelaps. The dog that never misses it's mark."

With those words, Sparkles pounced.

**Author's Note: Feel free to REVIEW! Was it too unoriginal? Was it too boring? You decide!**


	4. Grover Almost Escapes the Inescapable

**Author's Note: Sorry it took so long for me to update. Enjoy! Review!**

Sparkles threw himself at Grover first. He yelped and ducked. Amazingly, the inescapable dog overshot and missed. This seemed to surprise both Sparkles and Grover because they stared at each other for five full seconds.

"Run, Grover!" Annabeth said, snapping the satyr from his trance.

"Oh, right!" he said and turned and ran. He played a tune that sounded like "Itsy Bitsy Spider" on his pipes. It didn't do anything and he cursed loudly.

The pair dissapeared into the woods and I took after them. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Annabeth going the other direction. "Go after Grover, I have a plan!" she said over her shoulder.

"I'm rolling my eyes!" I shouted, rolling my eyes. I hope this plan worked.

Prometheus laughed. "I'll be waiting. Come back after you've slayed Laelaps."

"GO TO HADES!" I yelled.

It wasn't a long run because Grover tripped and Sparkles was on top of him.

I tried to stab its face with my sword but he looked up and snapped at it. If it wasn't made of out celestial bronze, it would've snapped in half. For a while I played tug-of-war with it. I lost.

I decided to wrestle with it. I'm not a pro, but I need to do something. It would tear Grover apart. He was desperately poking Sparkle's eyes with his pipes. I tackled its legs from underneath it and tried to pin it to the ground. He growled and threw me off but Grover managed to get up. My sword reappeared in my pocket. I uncapped it and was locked in combat with Sparkles. It's claws were really long. He used it like a sword. I kept getting distracted by the cold gleam in its sharp eyes. He dodged a desperate swing from my sword and gave me a good-sized scratch on my knees.

I was vaguely aware of Grover playing his pipes in the background. He moved rocks, made holes in the ground and did naturey stuff to try and trip the dog.

'_Where are you, Annabeth?'_ I thought desperately.

"Woof!" something barked. It wasn't Sparkles because he turned his furry head toward the sound.

Annabeth was jogging next to a black truck. No, it wan't a truck.

"Mrs. O'Leary!" I called to my hellhound. She bounded to me and sniffed Sparkles. The inescapable dog was distracted by the bigger dog. He snarled and tried to charge Mrs. O'Leary but he didn't even make marks on her pelt. While Sparkles was distracted, Annabeth drew her knife and struck Sparkles. He disintegrated into sand.

"Good job, Mrs. O'Leary!" I said petting her. "How'd you know?" I asked Annabeth.

"Laelaps always goes for the bigger prey," she shrugged like it was no big deal. "Mrs. O'Leary was bigger than you."

"Well, that's taken care of," said Grover, looking pale from doing all that magic. "But what do we do with Prometheus? He said to come back after we killed Laelaps, but obviously, he won't give us the freaking hind!"

Wow. I've never heard Grover call anything environmental freaking.

Annabeth kicked a tree in frustration. A nymph yelped and smacked Annabeth's face with some leaves.

"Sorry," she muttered. "If only there was some way to show Artemis Prometheus with the hind."

"Take a picture?" I said, trying to cheer her up with lame jokes. She just scowled at me.

"She'll think it's altered or something. We need real proof."

"What? Catch Promethus in a net and haul him to the hunters?" Grover said.

Why not?

**Author's Note: I posted a fight scene to keep you interested. Was it too short? I had the resolution to the plot in my brain but I forgot it. So sorry! :( Once again... REVIEW!**


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